Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [aesthetics]

Aesthetics is the study of the beautiful. It is one of the classical sub-disciplines of philosophy.

Aesthetics studies the creation and analysis of beauty and taste. It poses questions about the existence and nature of artistic expression, and evaluates different strategies for appreciating or generating beauty. Aesthetics is one of the classical sub-disciplines of philosophy alongside ethics, metaphysics and logic.

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Is it ever possible to objectively state that a piece of music or film, or a genre, is better, or more artistically valid than another?

I first found Adorno and Horkheimer's critique of pop culture in the Culture Industry very compelling. Their idea that pop culture was factory produced and induced mindless consumerism as opposed to legitimate and challenging art seemed very…
Alexander S King
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Is mathematics an art?

I'm thinking of art in the traditional sense as visual, musical or literary. Mathematics certainly requires technique, and hence one can say craftmanship. But whereas the production of an art (at least in the traditional sense) is a unique art…
Mozibur Ullah
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Has there been any philosophical investigation into the role of aesthetics in mathematics?

There are many mathematicians who talk about the particular beauty of a subject. They may say a particular result is pretty. It may be beautiful. It seems to me play a fundamental role in the composition of new mathematics. I know that there are…
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Who does Wil Wheaton represent in "Big Bang Theory"?

Following the aesthetics-challenge my first question on this site: In several episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" Wil Wheaton appears. In the credits it is stated that he plays "himself". But I have problems with that statement. It seems to me that…
Einer
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Can computers be programmed to be 'creative'?

When a artist strokes their brush on a canvas and paints a beautiful work of art they may be referred as creative person. Or perhaps a musician or a writer. Does this creativeness come from the soul or from somewhere only a human could possess? …
Justin Tyme
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Why in the academic fields of art and design, the philosophy taught or mentioned is often Continental philosophy?

Is there any rationale to prefer, in academic fields of art, Continental philosophy over Analytic philosophy? I guess there might be a historical reason why philosophy evolved into two approaches but why I do not hear in my art studies anything…
Luna
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Is the value of art always contextual, or can it ever be inherent?

A few years back, I was in a modern art museum and saw this painting by Russian Suprematist artist Kazimir Malevich: It seems to me that the value of this painting lies completely in the identity of its creator and the context of its creation.…
Alexander S King
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Was there support for panpsychism among the Romantic poets?

Phillip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy and vocal critic of religion, is a supporter of panpsychism, the doctrine that consciousness arises because every inanimate particle actually has some measure of consciousness. He said this…
Keshav Srinivasan
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Does postmodernism in art criticism collapse into relativism? What's its merit?

Postmodernism rejects the idea of a universal truth and in context of literary art criticism it shifts the focus from the writer or the author to the audience and from constant meaning to unstable one - but then, what tools of art criticism does it…
Luna
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Is there a philosophical term or theory that defines or describes the idea of 'epiphany'?

I am new to the philosophy stack exchange, so please let me know if I need to clarify this question further. I am curious if there is a distinction made in philosophical fields between a typical step-by-step accretion of knowledge and what might be…
cheepychappy
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What are some arguments for the golden ratio making things more aesthetically pleasing?

What are some (not necessarily good) arguments that painters, architects, designers, musicians, etc. basing their work on the golden ratio φ makes their work more aesthetically pleasing? I think these lines of reasoning are heard the most: (a) The…
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Does doing comparative philosophy presuposse adopting cultural-relativism?

Assuming that there are several distinct philosophical traditions - say - Western, Chinese and Indian and that philosophers can actually compare the manner certain philosophical problems were handled by the different traditions I wonder: Is doing…
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Why does Nietzsche say in the Antichrist that Aristotle "saw in pity a sickly and dangerous state of mind"?

In The Antichrist, Nietzsche starts with a very heavy attack on the emotion of pity, making statements like: Pity stands in opposition to all the tonic passions that augment the energy of the feeling of aliveness: it is a depressant. Through pity…
commando
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What does the philosopher Bruno Latour mean when he claims that we have never been modern?

I am trying to read Bruno Latour's paper "A cautious Prometheus? A few steps towards philosophy of design" but have no background in philosophy and so would be happy if someone could help me out understanding some basics, beginning with the question…
Luna
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What is Nietzsche's opinion on ethical criticism of art?

Recently, I have been quite interested in the intersection of ethics and aesthetics, or to be more specific, ethical criticism of art. What would or did Nietzsche say about the following two problems? Is an artwork a subject of moral judgement? For…
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